Michael Barbaro to cover Christie

12/27/13 11:24 AM EST

Michael Barbaro, the New York Times reporter who covered Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been assigned to cover Gov. Chris Christie ahead of the 2016 presidential race, editors told staff on Friday.

"After a dazzling year in which he captured the ups, downs, and all around excitement of the mayor's race, the leftward turn of the city's electorate and the ending of the Age of Bloomberg, Michael Barbaro will turn his attention to another great political story: Chris Christie," editors Carolyn Ryan and Wendell Jamieson wrote.

"Christie has emerged as a powerful and intriguing figure on the Republican stage, and his influence and impact will only grow in 2014, as he takes his message and his political operation national, as head of the Republican Governors Association and a potential candidate for president," they wrote. "Michael will build on the stellar work of Kate Zernike, our virtuoso New Jersey correspondent, who has reported aggressively and written revealingly of Christie's post-Sandy management, his opposition to same sex marriage, his fiscal stewardship and his reputation for hardball politics. Michael's new assignment will allow Kate to dive into more of the issues affecting New Jersey, and the stories unfolding there, from Camden to the Pine Barrens."

The assignment of a dedicated Christie reporter is yet another sign, as if one were needed, that the 2016 presidential race is upon us in earnest. The Times has had a dedicated Hillary Clinton reporter, Amy Chozick, since the summer.